Etude
by insertmangos
Summary: People don't get "cured" of depression. Ene wants to see him smile again, at least.
She pouted, knowing there was nothing she could do. Ene knew he was still depressed. Somebody doesn't get happy just because they met new friends when they're sad. The problem was that she couldn't tell if he was even more depressed, or if its just a contrast to him having fun with his new friends. He would stay at home some days and just bask in the darkness. Sometimes he would just give off an air of apathy that ruined the entire Dan's mood. Either way, she knew she had to do her part to shake Shintaro out of his brooding. She knew, she ALWAYS knew she couldn't "cure" him. But if she could just do her part to see one of her oldest friends truly happy again then her work would be done. Not that she would ever let ANYONE hear her say that.

Today was one of the stay-home days. The lights were off, the cola was out, and the blinds were closed. The only light in the room came from the computer screen and the green light that blinked every so often from the overhead fire alarm. Looking out at him, he was focused on typing something. His brow was furrowed, his eyes locked and unblinking. Surely he was writing on his beloved forums again. She didn't check. His phone vibrated on his nightstand but he didn't even dart his eyes to acknowledge it, if he even noticed.

Ene took over. She darted to his phone and sure enough, Momo was calling. She was supposed to go on a 'mission' with the Dan to the beach, but she knew that was far too much for him. She knew her way around phone lines between smartphones now. In one cyber-hop through lines of code, she found her way to Momo's phone.

"Little sister! Sorry, my stupid master is on the computer again."

"Ene, can you get him out of his room? He won't leave."

Sure, Ene could force him by blackmailing his beloved Folder again. But forcing somebody like Shintaro too often could be hazardous.

"No matter what I do, he won't leave! I don't think he's even listening to me!" She pouted, lying. She didn't try anything. He needed something other than forced activity to make him leave his room today. She just didn't know what.

"Ugh, that stupid big brother. Well, I guess we can go without him, but then it won't be the same."

Suddenly, Ene had an idea. "Sorry Little Sister, i didn't catch all that, I was too busy fuming." Yes, maybe this would work. "Could you say that again?"

Shintaro noticed his little Problem was gone. She wasn't closing anything of his out, she wasn't forcing him to leave his beloved den, and she wasn't turning up his volume suddenly. He didn't even see her obnoxiously bright blue strands of hair peeking to see what he was writing, which she usually did.

"Was there a Dan thing today? Who cares. She's probably there." then he realized that he was talking to himself. _Guess im just so used to talking to other people lately. Weird._

While proving his _obviously_ correct opinion on the forums was important to him, if Ene was gone then that could mean he could- huh? Why was his music app open?

He looked around for any sprite with blue pigtails, but he couldn't find anything. Did he open it without realizing it?

"I'm pretty sure I haven't worked on any songs since Ene deleted that one. Ah, i'm doing it again." He shook his head. _I really have to stop talking to myself._

Well, while the application was open he might as well get some work done.

While Ene was having fun on the summery beach, it just wasn't the same. Kano didn't have easy prey to pick on. Hibiya could only attack one of the two Kisiragi siblings with verbal assault. Konoha seemed out of it. Wait, perhaps he was normal. Nobody could tell with Konoha. Everybody but Kido rushed in and out of the water so Ene didn't have much for conversation. She liked Kido, but she didn't talk too much. Usually Shintaro would sit with Kido and bask in the silence and sun. Luckily Kido changed out of her usual hoodie and changed for a bright blue short-sleeve shirt.

"Uhh, Danchou? I have a question."

Kido glanced over to momo's bright-pink cased phone Ene was in. "Hmm? What is it?"

"Why did you let my master into the Dan?"

Ene grinned. Her scheme was almost complete. Yes, this should be the needed motivation for him to get out of bed another day. Hopefully, it'll be enough to get him out of the house once or twice. But she just needed him to leave his computer unguarded for a while, a feat that takes giants to do. However, she noted the cola stacked up next to him.

Almost right on cue, Shintaro felt nature's call, and decided to go to the bathroom to deal with it. Washing up, he heard something come from his room.

"-eeds him."

 _Ah. She must be back_ he thought, sighing. _She better not delete my work, I'll kill her._ Shuffling back into his room, he heard the voices. His eyes widened. Somehow, while he was in the bathroom, the Dan must have invaded his room! This was all because of that damned blue invader, wasn't it! He felt his stomach drop when he realized they just might look between his mattresses, and ran to his room. Opening his room, he saw!

Nobody. His bleak, bare room was the same pale black color as it was, lit by the same LED screen it was always lit by, the only life in the garbage-filled room was his dear bright white pet rabbit Tono. But the voices kept coming from his speakers. Looking at the screen was a single black video of Kido, blushing and wide eyed on the screen. A video? He decided to play it from the beginning.

In front of the camera was a beach. There he saw his sister and Hibiya splash around, and he saw Kano laughing at a crab in Mary's hair. Then the camera panned to Kido, enjoying a popsicle under the harsh sun. Then he heard Ene's voice.

"Uhh, Danchou? I have a question."

Kido turned and looked at the camera and presumably Ene. "Hmm? What is it?"

"Why did you let my master into the Dan?"

Kido's eyebrows furrowed. She opened her mouth once, then closed it, and thought some more. Eventually she started talking. "At first, it was because he was in danger and we saved him, and he's Momo's brother. It seemed natural. But that's not completely it. I can't really explain it, but he's a needed addition. This group needs him."

Shintaro heard Ene laugh, then her laugh stifled. Kido was blushing, however, clearly embarrassed.

"D-Did I say something weird? Why are you laughing?" she asked, eyes wide.

"No Danchou, don't worry. It's just that, I felt the same way once!" Shintaro wondered what she meant by that.

The next scene was of Seto. Shintaro has never seen Seto without his green jumpsuit on, or without his yellow hair clip. With dark green trunks on, Shintaro saw how the many jobs Seto takes has improved his body. He was knee-deep in water, a beach ball tucked under his arm.

"Huh? Why is Shintaro my friend?" Seto laughed. "That's simple! He's just a really great guy! I don't think he knows that though."

Kano, still chuckling over a crab that wouldn't leave Mary's hair, however, said something different. "I'm going to be honest, I don't really care for the guy when he sulks." Kido shrugged. "But he's generally fun to be around. I mean, did you see the way he smiles? Cracks me up every time!"

Mary, faint traces of tears in her eyes from Kano's teasing, looked very confused. "Huh? Shintaro? Well, he's just… he's Shintaro! He and Momo are my very dear friends!" a smile that could kick-start one thousand suns spread across her face, and Shintaro felt one begin on his own.

Next was Momo, and it seemed like this video was before they all went to the beach. Momo, shirt and skirt still on was clearly angry. "I said, my brother's so stupid! If we go without him, nothing will be the same!"

"Why is that, Little Sister?" Ene's voice asked.

"Because! It just won't! Everyone's just a bit happier when he's around. I'm not sure why."

"Shintaro's is NOT my friend!" The camera cut to Hibiya, seemingly holding the phone. "He's dumb and a stupid HikiNEET!"

"Oh come on, even when you two laughed at Momo's dress that day?"

Hibiya's eyes darted for a second. "Listen. He's not my friend, but he's fun to hang out with, okay? He's not my friend! Stop giving me that look!"

Next was Konoha. Konoha was eating a popsicle as well, and had 2 bare popsicle sticks in one hand. His blank eyes showed no emotion for a short while, until a familiar smile crept along his face. "Shintaro? He's such a kind person. He gave me a can of soda once."

"Konoha, i mean other than food!"

"Oh. Well, he taught me what a 'high five' is." Suddenly, the phone dropped as Konoha used his non-popsicle hand to demonstrate what a high five was. All he heard was a soft "oops" before the video cut out.

Using the hand that wasn't lingering over the mouse, Shintaro dried a couple of tears that fell. He looked to a smiling girl on his desktop, floating with a strange look in her eyes.

"Ene. What was tha-"

"You don't have to come out all the time, you know. I know you aren't better all of the sudden." she interrupted quickly. "We just want to see you more often. You mean a lot to us, you know."

Shintaro felt himself blush a little, but he blamed the reddening on the tears that were falling from his face. He closed the stopped video, and was greeted by his music program. Deciding to put that off for tomorrow, he stumbled over to his bed, unsure of what to say.

"What do you want me to save this song as?" Ene said. If Shintaro hadn't already heard the impossible, he would have certainly not believed that Ene was doing something nice for him.

"Save it as-" his voice cracked a little, still emotional from the video. "Save it as 'Summertime Record'"


End file.
